twodrifters Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 I'm in my second (back to back) Whole30 and am eating spinach almost daily, as well as kale, cabbage, brocolli, cauliflower, etc. Recently the issue of goitrogens has come to my attention. A search on this site did not bring up any discussion of it, but I'm guessing this must be discussed from time to time. This is what I came across on another site: "Goitrogens are chemicals that prevent your intestines from absorbing iodine. Chemicals classified as goitrogenic may also inhibit your thyroid function directly by slowing the production of thyroid hormones. According to a 2002 article in the journal "Thyroid," foods high in goitrogens, such as raw spinach, can increase your risk of developing thyroid disease, but they have not been shown to directly cause it. Other risk factors include pregnancy, low iodine consumption and poor health." (http://www.livestrong.com/article/517401-does-raw-spinach-affect-the-thyroid/#ixzz28dGzKuhO) I certainly don't want to bring on thyroid problems, but so many of the veggies contain these gloitrogens. --twodrifters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nutmegananne Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 My understanding is that if you do *not* have underlying thyroid problems, then daily consumption of goitregenic food will not cause thyroid disease unless you eating pounds and pounds of it raw each day. Those with thyroid issues should probably be more careful. However, cooking goitregenic foods lessens the effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Tom Denham Posted October 7, 2012 Moderators Share Posted October 7, 2012 Developing thyroid problems (or making thyroid problems worse) is not something we've seen within the Whole30 population. On the other hand, we've heard many reports of people doing markedly better eating lots of dark, leafy greens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I have thyroid problems and it's funny - most of the foods classified as goitrogens are foods that I have an aversion to. I even buy them from time to time and have even liked a lot of them at one point or another in my life, but I just can't seem to want to eat them. When I finally saw a list of goitrogens, it all kind of made sense to me. Could very well be coincidence, but I don't think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiffany Precissi Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I'm the same way Karen. I have always had a pretty strong aversion to a lot of the items listed. I was recently diagnosed with Hashimoto's and in my reading found out about the affect of goitrogens and it all made sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtnRunner Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 I took soy out but had not heard of spinach. Makes me kind of sad but I feel spinach gives me so many other positives that I will keep eating it unless my hypothyroidism gets worse. I'm hoping eating more protein might improve it, who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Lee Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 I meant to reply to this last night. Yes, overeating goitrogens can be an issue. Don't eat them raw, don't purée a super-natural amount of kale into a green shake (which aren't compliant anyway), and you'll be fine. Vary your veggies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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